HS: 02 204 Let's Play House!
by prettyvioletfire
Summary: HS: A High School Experience Like No Other. Season 2, Episode 4. The next big idea is put on hold when Candace needs someone to babysit Amanda. Isabella wants to play house with Phineas and live out her fantasy. But it doesn't go very smoothly...
1. I

**HS: A High School Experience Like No Other**

02 204: Let's Play House!

I

When the last school bell rang on a Friday there was an audible sigh of relief from the student body as well as the faculty. And this Friday was no different. As that last bell chimed everyone happily greeted the start of the weekend. Students cleared out their lockers and made their way to their bus, car, or began their walk home. The Flynn/Fletcher car was full, as per usual, and plans were being made for the next 48 hours.

"Man I can't wait for spring to get here," said Buford. "I'm sick of it being so dang cold all the time."

"Agreed," said Baljeet. "My body will never get used to these frigid temperatures."

"Guys it's forty-five degrees out," said Isabella. "Relax."

"But it is not even sunny," said Baljeet. "Every day is just gray and miserable. We might as well live in England."

Ferb swerved the car enough to cause Baljeet to smack his face into the window.

"Oh, right, sorry Ferb," Baljeet apologized as he rubbed his head.

"Speaking of the weather, it's supposed to pour freezing rain all weekend," said Phineas. "I had been planning on maybe heading out to the park since the snow's melted enough that the baseball diamond is visible. I can't wait to start playing baseball again. I've been itching to hit some balls lately."

"Well why don't you make a batting cage at your house?" suggested Isabella.

"Hey that's a great idea!" said Phineas. "Not just a batting cage, a whole baseball diamond!"

"You're gonna fit a whole baseball diamond in your backyard?" said Buford.

"Of course! We'll make it a virtual baseball diamond," Phineas explained, reaching into his backpack for a notebook where he could jot down all of his ideas. "It'll be the entire baseball experience but in the virtual world. We'll add sensory manipulators to make it feel like you're really outside on a nice spring day. You'll be able to see the field, feel the sun, smell the hotdogs, and hear the crowd."

"That is only four of the five senses," said Baljeet. "You left out taste."

"Well I don't think we'll need any manipulating to simulate that," said Phineas. "We'll just eat real hotdogs and chew real gum."

"I think we've found our plan for the weekend," Isabella smiled. "All thanks to yours truly."

"That means you'll get to bat first," said Phineas, kissing her cheek.

"Glad I didn't think of it," said Buford, wrinkling his nose at the sight of the couple.

The rest of the drive home consisted of Phineas planning out how they'd go about creating this virtual baseball field and what job each person would be assigned to to make it happen. Ferb, as usual, asked to be left out. Only this time Phineas didn't have time to argue with him as Isabella had quickly jumped in and turned his attention to something else. She'd been doing a great job of steering her boyfriend away from his stepbrother, just as the two had planned, and thus far the redhead didn't seem any the wiser.

After they dropped Buford and Baljeet off the three remaining teens arrived at the Flynn-Fletcher household. To Phineas and Ferb's surprise they found Candace's car in the driveway. Though their sister did visit often they usually were given word ahead of time. But they didn't mind a visit from the eldest formerly Flynn child and happily headed inside.

Linda and Candace were sitting on the couch with tea while Amanda was on the floor playing with blocks. As soon as the little girl saw the three teenagers enter she grew very excited. She got up on her feet and grabbed onto the edge of the playpen, jumping up and down.

"Hi! Hi! Hi!" she said repeatedly.

"Hi Amanda!" Phineas smiled and scooped his niece up, causing her to shriek with delight. "How's my favorite niece?"

"Hi Candace, hi Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher," said Isabella pleasantly.

"Hi kids," said Linda. "How was school?"

"Good," Phineas and Isabella said together while Ferb shrugged indifferently.

"You unleash any crazy inventions on the school?" asked Candace, eyeing them.

"Not today," Isabella smiled.

"So what brings you round the old homestead?" asked Phineas, handing the two year old in his arms to his brother.

"I was running errands and thought I'd stop by," said Candace. "And I was hoping mom could babysit for me tomorrow night since our babysitter backed out at the last minute. But she's got another stupid antique expo thing to go to."

"Candace don't call it stupid," Linda scolded.

"Well I'm sorry but I'm just so frustrated!" Candace exclaimed. "Jeremy and I haven't had a night out since Valentine's Day and even then it was only for two hours. I just spent the last week getting Amanda over a cold and an ear infection. I _need_ a night off. But, of course, everyone in the whole darn city is booked."

"Well…we could watch her," said Phineas.

"Oh no, I don't think so," said Candace. "You'll end up shooting her to space or sending her on a field trip to the center of the earth."

"I think it's a good idea," said Linda. "The boys are responsible."

"No they're not!" said Candace. "You've no idea how many dangerous things they do with little thought for their safety."

"Now I can't say I agree with that," said Isabella. "Anyway if it makes you feel better, Candace, I'll babysit with them. Between the three of us Amanda will be well looked after."

"You know in the past I'd say I could trust you but now that you're going out with my brother I consider you part of the dark side," said Candace.

"Fine then I guess you'll be stuck at home yet again," Isabella shrugged.

Candace growled then said, "Alright. But I'm going to draw up a contract that you're each going to sign forbidding the three of you from doing anything and I mean _anything_ outrageous. Got it?"

"Got it!" Phineas and Isabella agreed while Ferb wondered how he'd gotten wrapped up in this.

"Well that settles that," said Linda. "I'll go make some after school snacks. Candace, do you want to help me?"

"You need help with snacks?" said Candace.

"You'd be surprised how big 'snacks' get when you've got two teenage boys in the house," said Linda.

"Especially when one of them is Ferb," Isabella laughed.

"Well I guess I'd better call Buford and Baljeet up and tell them our virtual baseball plans are postponed," said Phineas.

"Did you hear that, Amanda?" said Isabella, taking the little girl from Ferb. "We're gonna be your babysitters tomorrow night!"

"Yay!" Amanda clapped and hugged Isabella around the neck tightly.

Ferb cleared his throat and said, to Isabella, "I'm not babysitting."

"Oh don't worry," she said, knowing Phineas wasn't listening because he was now on the phone with Buford. "You can study and do whatever you want. This is gonna be a test to see what Phineas and I would be like as parents. You know, so I can get a look at his paternal side. So it's actually best if you were out of the picture."

Ferb gave her a small smile and said, "Clever girl."

"Naturally," Isabella responded with a smile of her own.

* * *

What wonderful bliss. Really, Perry hadn't felt such relief in quite some time. Today began Dr. Doofenshmirtz's weeklong vacation. Which meant this was the beginning of Perry's weeklong vacation as well. The platypus had been overjoyed when he'd learned his nemesis had put in for a vacation and had been counting down the days to it. And now Doofenshmirtz was on a plane on his way to home to the motherland: Gimmelshtump.

But the secret agent wasn't completely off the hook. Before he'd left, the scientist had made a request of his long time nemesis. Nothing complex; just to water his plants while he was gone. Oh, and keeping an eye on Norm. Two tasks Perry was more than willing to do if it meant an entire week free of Doofenshmirtz.

He arrived at the apartment and used the hidden key to get inside. He found the place quiet and still; something it very rarely was. He found a note waiting for him and picked it up.

_Dear Perry the Platypus,_

_Thanks again for taking care of my place while I'm away. Now don't get any funny ideas about messing with my inators or schematics because I've booby trapped them. All of my plants are inside so you don't need to worry about anything on the terrace. I've left instructions on how to take care of them so please look over it carefully. If any of my plants have wilted when I come back you'll be in big trouble mister! Norm runs on squirrel power so give him a handful of nuts each day and clean out his chest. If you need any help you can ask him but keep in mind he's more trouble than he's worth. But he's useful when it comes to changing light bulbs. Or making muffins. Well now I'm starting to ramble. Anyway keep my plants alive and don't let Norm ruin the place. Thanks again!_

_-Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz_

Perry flipped through the plant manual then got to work watering each one with the exact amount of water indicated. He also had to inspect each plant for any signs of wilting or disease, making notes in a special notebook that had been left for him. The platypus has to admit that the evil scientist did have a green thumb.

He went over to Norm's closet and opened the door.

"Hi, I'm Norm," said the robot.

Perry wasn't about to exchange pleasantries so he went right to opening the automaton's chest. There was the squirrel, running his little heart out.

"How rude! You could at least take me out to dinner first," said Norm.

Perry rolled his eyes and took the animal out, shutting the robot down, and gave him some nuts while he quickly wiped down Norm's chest cavity. Once he was done he placed the rodent back inside and closed him up.

The secret agent took one last look around the apartment. Everything seemed taken care of so with a satisfied nod he headed out. Having to do these little chores was worth not having to worry about the scientist creating any crazy schemes. Or having to play checkers. Perry was starting to really get sick of playing checkers.


	2. II

II

"…no invisibility machines, no antigravity beams, no teleportation devices, no DNA rearranging drinks, and absolutely NO gum," Candace finished up. "Jeremy let her have some once and I had to throw away her outfit and cut off an inch of hair. Now do you three understand and agree to everything I've just said?"

"Yes," all three teens said together.

"Then sign here," said Candace, pushing three contracts forward. Each teen took one and signed their name on the bottom. She took them back and stuffed them in her purse.

"Are you done? Can we go now?" asked Jeremy with a sigh.

"Yes, I think I've done as much as I can to prevent anything catastrophic from happening," said Candace.

"For the last time, Candace, don't worry," said Phineas. "Amanda's in safe hands."

"Well let me give her one last kiss," said Candace, going over to her daughter who was in Isabella's arms. She kissed her and said, "Mommy and daddy will be back in a little while, okay? Be good."

"Say 'bye mommy'," said Isabella.

"Bye mommy," said Amanda.

"Come on," said Jeremy, grabbing Candace's hand and leading her towards the door. "If we hurry up they might not give our table away."

"I put her bag on mom and dad's bed upstairs," Candace called as she was being dragged away. "Don't let her fall asleep in her clothes. And her toys are in the living room. Make sure you help her clean up when she's done playing!"

"Bye!" Jeremy said and pulled his wife out of the door.

"Bye guys! Have a good time!" Phineas called after them. As soon as the door closed there was a collective sigh of relief. "Sheesh, what did we ever do to make her so weary of us as caretakers?"

"Do you honestly have to ask?" Isabella laughed. "Come on, let's go play."

"Sounds good to me," Phineas smiled. "Amanda, what do you wanna play?"

"Horsies!" Amanda clapped.

"Awesome, show us how to play," said Phineas and they headed into the living room where the girl's toys, that she'd brought with her, sat. Ferb turned when they entered the living room and headed for the stairs. Phineas noticed this and said, "Hey, where're you going?"

"My room," said Ferb and he proceeded to ascend the steps.

"But we're gonna play!" said Phineas. "When's the last time we played with toys?"

"I've got some reading to get done," said Ferb. "But I'm leaving my door open if you need help."

"But can't you just-" Phineas began.

"Phineas, Amanda wants to know which horse you want to be," Isabella said quickly, doing her best to distract her boyfriend so his brother could escape. And, to her luck, he turned towards her and Ferb bolted up the stairs.

"You has this one," said Amanda, holding up a brown and white horse to her uncle.

"Okay," Phineas smiled, taking the toy and sitting down on the floor with her. He began to move it around as though it were galloping and neighed a few times. Amanda squealed with delight and grabbed another toy horse and began to imitate him. "Wow, you're a good horse! Can you make the sound horses hooves make when they're walking?" And with that he began to click his tongue to make the sound. The little girl tried to copy him the best she could but made more of a smacking sound. But that didn't mean Phineas didn't praise her. "Good job! Let's do it together and have them walk around the room." He clicked his tongue and crawled around on the floor with his horse moving about. Amanda was right behind him smiling and doing her best to make the clip-clop sound.

Isabella watched all this and felt her heart swell. She had never really seen Phineas interacting with small children before but she'd guessed he'd be fantastic with them. And he certainly was. Well, with his niece at least. But it was hard to imagine Phineas not excelling at any activity.

"Well while you two play I'm going to make us dinner," she said.

"Really? Thanks!" Phineas smiled. "What're you gonna make?"

"Kreplach on tostadas," said Isabella. "I've made them so many times with my mom that I could make them blindfolded." She headed into the kitchen, unable to contain the smile spread across her lips. She felt as though she were getting a glimpse into the perfect future she wanted for herself and Phineas. Someday they'd have a house and children of their own. She'd be making her mother's recipes while he shared his creative imagination with their kids. Yes, it'd be just like this…only hopefully Ferb wouldn't be upstairs. And if she wanted this perfect future she needed to make sure that Ferb got what he wanted and became unattached from Phineas.

"Ahem."

She jumped out of her thoughts and turned to see Ferb standing in the kitchen doorway with Amanda in his arms. He handed the toddler to her and proceeded to walk out again.

"Um, what just happened?" she asked, confused.

"She came up to my room and began going through my things," said Ferb.

"What? Where's Phineas?" she asked.

"From what I can tell he's laying on the living room floor with a notebook full of horse sketches and what I can only assume are ideas for a new project," said Ferb, leaving.

Isabella sighed and headed into the living room. "Amanda, you can't go upstairs, okay? You need to stay downstairs with us. Uncle Ferb is busy, okay?"

"'kay," Amanda replied.

Isabella went into the living room and found that Ferb's description was right on, as usual. There lay Phineas with papers all around him full of sketches and scribbling. "Phineas, what're you doing?"

"Well while we were playing I had this great idea for a miniature horse rodeo," said Phineas. "And when I say miniature I'm talking _really_ miniature. Like only four inches tall kind of miniature. And that got me to thinking that we could sell them as pets for kids! They'll be this generations gerbils or hamsters. Of course we'd have to create some sort of miniature machine that could tend to their itty bitty hooves but-"

"Phineas!" Isabella cut him off. "You're supposed to be looking after Amanda. She crawled upstairs and lucky for us went to bother Ferb. What if she'd crawled into the bathroom or something? You need to focus."

"Oh, crud, sorry!" Phineas jumped, realizing his mistake. "I just got so into this idea I got distracted. Don't worry, I won't let it happen again."

"Okay, I've got to get back to cooking," said Isabella, leaving the little girl with Phineas once again. "Please don't take your eyes off of her."

"You got it," he winked at her reassuringly.

She headed back into the kitchen and got back to work making the kreplach on tostadas. Well she hadn't expected something like that to happen but, as she reminded herself each day, Phineas was human. He had the ability to make mistakes. Ever since they'd begun going out she'd come to terms with the fact that he wasn't the perfect being she'd always idolized him to be. But she was glad for this. Growing up she was often worried about doing anything wrong, thinking, 'Well Phineas would never make a mistake'. But seeing that he did make the wrong choice from time to time made her feel far better about herself.

"Ahem."

She dropped the spoon she'd been using and turned to see Ferb in the kitchen doorway with Amanda in his arms, once again. Isabella blinked and wondered if she was experience déjà vu.

"Did she get away from Phineas again?" she asked, shocked.

"Apparently," said Ferb, handing the girl off again.

"He said he was going to watch her," she sighed. "What's he doing this time?"

"He had that notebook out again," Ferb said simply and headed out. "And just so you know I'm closing and locking my door now."

Isabella frowned and went back to the living room with the two year old, who was finding all of this quite amusing. "I thought I told you to stay downstairs, young lady." The teen found her boyfriend on the couch writing furiously in his notebook. "Uh, Phineas?"

"Yeah, one sec," he said, writing even faster. "I wanna get this idea down before I lose it."

"Phineas!" she snapped, causing him to fumble the pen out of his hands and look at her.

"What?" he asked, startled.

"What are you supposed to be doing right now?" she asked.

He blinked then said, "Um…oh! Amanda!"

"Yeah, Amanda," said Isabella, putting the girl on the couch next to him. "What did you get distracted by this time?"

"Well we were playing with her building blocks and I got this great idea for our virtual baseball game that we're going to build next weekend. See I was thinking that-" he began.

"No more ideas!" she scolded. "You need to focus on this little girl right here. Can't you put your imagination aside just for a little while? Just until I'm done with dinner?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course!" he said. "I'm so sorry. I guess I'm not used to having to pay attention to little kids before. Where was she this time?"

"She found her way to Ferb, again," she said. "Look, if you get an idea either push it out of your mind or bring her to me in the kitchen before you start writing it out. Okay?"

"Okay, got it," he said. "Again, I'm so sorry Isabella. It's not gonna happen again, I promise."

"I hope not," said Isabella. She went back into the kitchen and hoped to finish up as soon as possible. She'd never lost her faith in Phineas before but right now she didn't exactly trust him to keep his promise. Never in her wildest dreams would she think she couldn't rely on him to watch over a two year old, never mind his own niece. She couldn't help but think that if Candace ever found out about this she'd never let him look after Amanda again.

* * *

Perry made his way to his nemesis' apartment for his second day of taking care of the plants and the robot. Knowing that a checker game wasn't waiting for him on the other side of the door was quite a relief and he was glad to know that once he'd done these few little chores he'd have the rest of the day free without a single worry. He didn't have a need to worry much lately but even if they did have their contract there was always that nagging thought at the back of his mind that Doofenshmirtz might breach it and do something behind his back. But with him out of the country his mind was very much at ease.

He arrived outside the apartment door and went to open it up but paused when he realized his paws were getting wet on the welcome mat. He looked down and noticed that water seemed to be seeping out from behind the door. He quickly unlocked it and swung it open to find a small gush of water rushing out. He stood there, stunned, for a moment then quickly ran inside and looked for the source. It didn't take him long to find that it was coming from the kitchen. He headed straight for the sink and threw the cabinet doors underneath open. He was met with a face full of water from the broken pipe that blew him clear across the room. He sat there for a moment, spat out the water that was shoved into his bill, and watched as all of Doofenshmirtz's plants and Norm floated by.

"I've always wanted an indoor pool," said Norm as he did the backstroke.

Perry chattered out of frustration and basically as a way to tell Norm to shut up. He quickly swam about and grabbed all of the drowning plants. He looked for somewhere high and dry to put them and ended up using Norm as a plant stand.

"I'm being useful," Norm said cheerfully.

Perry rolled his eyes and swam back over to the sink to try and fix the problem. He took his hat of and reached inside to find his utility kit. He grabbed his welding tool and sparked it up. He then looked around and grabbed a spoon. He put the spoon on the hole and put the torch to it. The metal of the spoon quickly melted and sealed up the hole. With the leak temporarily stopped, Perry put his tool kit away and looked around at the mess he now had to deal with.

Just then the phone began to ring. The platypus waded over to it and answered with a chatter. "Hello Perry the Platypus," said Doofenshmirtz. "I was just calling to make sure everything was okay. How are my plants? Norm hasn't given you any trouble has he?"

Perry chattered into the phone.

The line was silent for a moment. "…Well I'm going to assume that meant that everything's fine," said the evil scientist, who obviously couldn't understand the mammal. "Oh, and I forgot to mention in the note I left you that you have to use my bathroom sink to get water because the pressure in my kitchen sink is out of control. I swear, once of these days one of the pipes is just going to burst or spring a leak. Well anyway that's all I wanted to say. Oh! And could you take my mail in for me? Thank you Perry the Platypus." And with that he hung up.

Perry slammed the phone back onto its stand and crossed his arms, chattering something rather crude in his own language. The only thing he was glad for was that at least the leak wasn't his fault. He took a moment to compose himself then got to the arduous task of cleaning the apartment up.


	3. III

III

To Isabella's relief Phineas kept his promise and watched Amanda vigilantly until she was finished cooking dinner. She brought a plate of it up to Ferb, who was extremely appreciative, then set the table so that she could continue where her fantasy left off the first time Amanda had wandered out of her boyfriend's sight.

"Wow, Isabella, this is great," Phineas praised her as he began to eat the lovely home cooked meal. "Do you like it, Amanda?"

The little girl looked at her kreplach sitting upon a tostada and wrinkled her nose. "No."

"What? Well then I guess I'll just have to eat yours," said Phineas, taking some off her plate and eating it. He made loud yummy sounds and licked his lips. "Wow, is that good. It's too bad you don't want any of it. Guess there's more for me." He went to take more but the toddles shooed his fork away.

"No, it's mine!" she said. She picked the kreplach up and looked at it, still a bit weary of this food that was new to her, but took a bite. She chewed a few times then looked quite surprised. She nodded and smacked her lips. "Yum!"

"So you like it?" asked Isabella. Amanda nodded and took another big bite.

"Aw, so I can't have yours?" asked Phineas, fake pouting.

"No," Amanda shook her head and covered her plate with her hand.

"Well you're certainly making a mess," said Isabella, wiping the girl's hands with a napkin. "After dinner we'll wash you up and put on your pajamas. Someday we should have a tea party and I can teach you how to be a little lady with manners. You'll be like a real princess."

Amanda's eyes lit up at the sound of that and she said with a full mouth, "I wanna be a princess!"

"You already are a princess, silly," Phineas laughed.

Isabella smiled and, once again, pictured what life was going to be like in the future. "Phineas, what do you think about kids?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well I was just wondering if you'll ever want to have children," Isabella shrugged. "You know, way down the road when you're older."

"Hmm," he said, thinking. "Sure, I think I'd like to have kids someday, you know, when I'm an adult. It'll be fun the build them fun stuff to play on or with."

"I was thinking of having two children," she said. "One of each. How does that sound?"

"Cool," Phineas replied and it appeared that was all he was going to say about it.

"So…what about you? How many do you want? Do you want boys, girls, or both?" she asked.

"Um…I don't know," he shrugged.

"You've never given it any thought?" she asked.

"Nope," he said simply.

"Well you can think about it now," she pressed. "You must have some sort of idea. I mean, this is _you_ we're talking about. I can't imagine you not planning out for your future."

"Huh, really? Actually I'm not a 'future' kind of guy," he said. "I'm more of a 'here and now' type of guy. Now if you want a 'think about the future' guy then talk to Ferb. He's all about thinking ahead."

"Oh," she said, once again learning something new about her boyfriend. "So…you've never given your future any thought?"

"Not a lot of thought, no," he admitted. "I've got enough ideas about what to do right now that if I were to think about the future my brain would probably explode."

"I see," she said, taking all of this in. "Wow, I can't believe I never knew that about you. Well I guess that's okay. I'll think ahead for the two of us."

"Nah, you don't have to," he said. "Ferb's got it covered, trust me."

Isabella could see that she was losing him. And, once again, he wasn't getting the hints she was bombarding him with. He didn't seem to connect the idea of children and the future with her. She wondered how someone so smart could be so oblivious sometimes.

"Well you can't expect him to always do the thinking ahead," she said. "I mean, eventually you'll have to start doing it yourself or at least relying on someone else other than Ferb."

"Why?" he asked genuinely.

"Well…isn't it a bit selfish to make Ferb plan ahead for you all the time?" she asked, unsure of how to word the replying without giving any of Ferb's secrets away. "And if anyone else should be thinking about your future I'm probably the best candidate."

"Really? Why?" he asked, again with all sincerity.

She stared at him then said, "Because I'm your girlfriend. And we're supposed to look out for each other. So how about you take care of the here and now and I'll be in charge of planning ahead and preparing for the future?"

Phineas thought then said, "Yeah, I guess that works. Okay, you can be my 'prepare for the future' go to guy, er, girl."

She let out a breath of frustration and said, "You know, most guys would think what I just offered as a sweet gesture and would reciprocate. But, as usual, you're _completely_ oblivious. Why is it that you can think romantically for other people but when it comes to me you can't recognize a single hint I'm giving or haven't a clue as to how to act? Sometimes, Phineas, I feel like you're still treating me as a friend and not as your girlfriend."

The sixteen year old redhead was quite surprised to hear this. "I'm…I'm sorry, Isabella," he said. "I've never meant to make you feel that way, honest. Of course I don't think of you as a friend anymore. Uh, that's not what I meant! What I mean is that you're better than a friend. You're even better than a best friend. You're my girlfriend. I mean, I treasure you more than anyone else! And I'm sorry if I can't recognize special hints you give me. It's like there's this weird Isabella blocker in my brain that won't let me think properly when it comes to you. But please know that I'd never do anything to hurt you on purpose."

Isabella sighed but smiled. "I know. It's just that sometimes I get a little frustrated with you, that's all."

"What hints were you trying to drop?" he asked curiously.

"Never mind," she said, shaking her head. "I was just being silly. Besides, it's too soon to be thinking about the things I was thinking about. I guess it's true about us teenagers being a bit delusional when it comes to romance. I'm glad I read that book my mom has about the teenage developing brain and psyche."

"Sounds like something I should thumb through," he chuckled. "So…we okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," she smiled and leaned across the table to give him a quick kiss.

"And if you ever do want to talk about it don't drop hints just come right out and tell me," he said. "Otherwise I'll probably never know."

She laughed and said, "Definitely." They leaned in to kiss again but Isabella suddenly remembered Amanda and jumped back, embarrassed. "Uh, we probably shouldn't be kissing in front of…" But she stopped short when she turned towards the high chair Amanda had been sitting in and noticed that it was vacant. "Ph…Phineas…where's Amanda?"

He looked over and saw that his niece was no longer sitting with them. "Uh oh."

* * *

Perry was a very grumpy platypus. He currently had a crew of workmen inside of Doofenshmirtz's apartment trying to dry everything out and fix the busted pipe properly. There were dozens of fans going and that certainly wasn't good for the plants. Half of them were already starting to wilt from being half drowned and the blowing air wasn't helping matters. And Norm just kept getting into everyone's way as he tried to be helpful.

"Sorry, buddy, but you'll probably have to get this floor replaced," one of the men said to the secret agent. "It'd be cheaper to just buy a new one rather than pull it all up, dry it out, and reinstall it. And if you don't dry it out you're looking at mold for sure. Oh, and most of the cabinets will have to be replaced as well. And don't get me started on those contraptions. What are they for anyway? They look like some sorts of inators. Well, anyway, my team's done for the day so sign here."

Perry reached up and signed the paper.

"Alright, guys, let's go." The men cleaned up everything but the fans and headed out.

Perry took a seat on the still damp couch and sighed. This simple task was turning into an absolute nightmare. Now he'd have to deal with having the floor and cabinets replaced as well as fixing inators he was destined to take apart anyway. He could only hope the water destroyed the booby traps.

"You look down. I made muffins," said Norm, holding a tray of muffins.

Perry took one and began to nibble on it as he slumped into his depression. He had to admit, they were good.


	4. IV

IV

Phineas and Isabella searched around the house frantically for little Amanda who had disappeared during dinner while the teens had been talking. They opened every closet, cupboard, door, and searched behind every piece of furniture while calling her name. But they turned up nothing.

"Could she have gotten outside?" asked Isabella.

"No, we would've heard the door open," said Phineas. "Are you sure she's not with Ferb?"

"He said he was locking his door so that she wouldn't bother him again," she said. "And I told her not to go upstairs."

"Yeah but she's two," he said. "And if she didn't listen to you the first time she probably didn't listen to you the second."

"But she knows she can get in trouble and I'm sure if she heard us calling for her she'd try to come back downstairs before we found out she snuck back up," she said.

"Well we've searched everywhere down here so she's got to be upstairs," he said.

"Alright let's look up there then," she said and the two hurriedly went up to the second floor.

They first checked the bathroom then Phineas' room then his parents'. But still the two year old was nowhere to be found. And with every second she was gone they both felt as though they were going to be sick. The thought of the little girl being lost or hurt was scary and the thought of Candace finding out was terrifying.

"I'm gonna go up into the attic," said Phineas.

"How could she have gotten up there?" asked Isabella.

"I don't know but we're running out of places," he said, panicking. "Maybe you should look outside."

"I thought you said she couldn't have gotten outside," she said.

"That's what I thought before we'd turned the house upside down!" said Phineas. "Now you go outside and I'll check the attic."

"Fine but I'm getting Ferb to help," she said and ran down the hall to Ferb's door. She knocked and said, "Ferb, Amanda's missing! We need you to help us look for her." She waited but heard no response. She knocked again, harder. "Ferb, come on, this is an emergency! We can't find Amanda anywhere and we're starting to panic. Stop studying for a few minutes and help us!" She waited a few more seconds but still there was nothing. She frowned and grabbed at the doorknob with the intent on pulling it back and forth to shake the door and hopefully get her friend's attention. But, to her surprise, it wasn't locked as he'd said it was. The knob turned and the door opened. She looked inside and was about to yell at him but upon seeing the scene inside lost her voice completely. She was immediately relieved and carefully backed outside, closing the door behind her. She went over to the ladder leading up to the attic and crawled up. "Phineas, I found her!"

"Are you serious? Thank goodness!" Phineas said, nearly collapsing with relief. "Where was she?"

"Come and see," she said with a smile.

Once he'd come down she led him over to Ferb's door. She held a finger up to her lips to indicate that he was to be quiet and opened the door. Phineas peaked inside and saw why Isabella didn't want to disturb his brother. Ferb was sitting at his desk with a book in one hand, his reading glasses sitting on the end of his nose, and headphones securely covering his ears. On his lap slept Amanda in her pajamas, her face pressed up against his chest and her thumb in her mouth. He was cradling her lovingly though was completely focused on his reading. It was quite a sight to see.

"Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?" Isabella gushed.

"And here we thought she was stuck somewhere," said Phineas. "This whole time she was asleep!"

They watched as the little girl woke up slightly and shifted, whining in her half awake state. Ferb readjusted himself so that she could get more comfortable and began to rub her back until she fell back asleep. Isabella couldn't help the awing. "You know what? I bet Ferb's going to make a great father someday."

Phineas felt something in his chest burn and he cleared his throat. "You know, I'm good with kids, too." Isabella turned to look at her boyfriend then couldn't help laughing. "What? What're you laughing for? I am good with kids!"

"I know, I know," she assured him. She couldn't believe that all it took to get the response she'd wanted all night was to get him a little jealous. She'd forgotten that Phineas' trigger was seeing her admiring another boy.

The two walked into the room and Phineas tapped his best friend on the shoulder. Ferb looked up from his book and removed his headphones. "Hmm?"

"Just thought you should know we've been running around the house for the last twenty minutes looking for her," said Phineas, pointing to the sleeping child. "You couldn't hear us?"

"I was listening to…music," said Ferb, which was a lie since he was actually listening to a lecture. "Sorry. If I had known I'd have told you."

"Why didn't you bring her back downstairs like you did before?" asked Isabella.

"Well this was the third time she'd escaped from the two of you so I thought it best that I kept an eye on her," he said, hinting that he was a bit disappointed in the two of them. "And she seemed a bit determined in being with me, seeing as I had locked my door and she knocked at it relentlessly until I let her in."

"How'd she end up asleep on your lap?" asked Phineas, trying not to laugh at how cute the two were.

"She wanted to be held so I held her," Ferb said simply. "Of course I had to clean her up since it appeared she had half of her dinner on her face and hands. I then changed her into her pajamas and sat her on my lap. Next thing I knew she was asleep. So I put my headphones on and continued with my reading. If you'd like to take her now that she's immobile please be my guest."

Isabella chuckled and scooped the little girl up. "Oh don't act like you didn't love getting to cuddle with her. You're obviously her favorite uncle."

"Hey!" Phineas objected. "I was the one who was playing with her. He didn't even want to spend time with her!"

"True but he wasn't the one who ignored her as soon as he got some brilliant idea," said Isabella.

Phineas wanted to reply to that but found that he couldn't. So he just crossed his arms and pouted as his brother saw him and Isabella out of his room. Ferb was glad he's tucked and hidden away most of his studying material when Amanda entered earlier or else Phineas might have seen them when he'd come in just now. His secret was still preserved.

"By the way, Ferb, I'd kind of appreciate it if you didn't tell Candace about this," said Isabella. "The last thing we want is for her to think we accidentally lost track of her daughter."

Ferb nodded and went to close the door once more. But Phineas quickly stopped it and said, "Hey…have you seen Perry?"

* * *

Perry dragged himself inside through his little flap in the door feeling quite exhausted. It was going to take days to dry Doofenshmirtz's apartment out so he left the fans running and put Norm in charge of looking after the place, instructing him (using codes from the automaton's user manual) that if anything else were to go wrong he was to call the O.W.C.A. He'd needed the help of Major Monogram and Carl to hire workers to replace the floor and cabinets before the evil scientist returned from his trip. As for the inators…he decided he was just going to leave them as they were. He figured Doofenshmirtz deserved that much of an inconvenience for neglecting to tell him about the kitchen sink sooner.

He tiredly walked through the kitchen and saw that no one had put his food out yet. He was quite famished so he looked around for someone to feed him. He found Phineas and Isabella sitting on the couch holding hands while Amanda was fast asleep next to them. He walked over to the couple and pawed at Phineas' leg to get his attention.

"Oh there you are Perry," the redhead smiled. "Where have you been all day, old boy?"

Perry chattered and nudged him with his bill.

"I bet he's hungry," said Isabella. "He never got to have his supper."

"Aw, are you hungry? I'll feed you," said Phineas, standing up and heading into the kitchen.

Perry was quick to follow after him and walk in circles around his legs as he anxiously waited for his bowl to be filled. Once the food had been poured the platypus hungrily began to feed. He couldn't wait to fill his tummy and crawl into his comfy little bed.

Phineas pat his pet's head and said, "You know, considering I can't even keep track of you each day I don't know why I thought I'd be able to look after a little kid. Oh well, live and learn."

Perry swallowed then chattered.

Phineas smiled. "So…you wanna be our mascot next weekend when we do virtual baseball?"

**Credits**

Written by …prettyvioletfire

Characters by…Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh

**AN:**** Sorry about the loooooong wait for this episode. I fell out of my PnF obsession for a little while there but I'm back. A very Isabella centric episode but probably the only one of the season. The rest of the episodes will be very Phineas and especially Ferb centric, as well it should be. Also I should mention that the virtual baseball is not going to be featured in the next episode. Let's just assume it takes place between this episode and the next one. I hope you enjoyed this episode and will stay tuned for the next!**


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